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Biggest UI Design Trends of 2013 (So Far)

Author: Allison

It’s always good to keep up with the latest design trends. It helps broaden your style and step out of what you’re used to. I’ve noticed a few big trends this year, and I can’t wait to implement them on upcoming projects.

1. Say Goodbye to Skeuomorphism

If you own an iPhone, you’ll know exactly what this is. It’s a type of design that uses elements to make depth and give a user interface a sense of realism. For example, in the default Notepad app there’s the effect of a leather binding with the illusion of torn paper.

Personally, I don’t mind a little bit of skeuomorphism, but sometimes too much of it is just tacky (like the Newstand app… who even uses that anyway?) It’s probably because it’s been out for a long time and many users are looking for something fresh. A lot of UIs are starting to have a more flat, simplistic look, without losing usability. A big example is Windows 8, as well as Yahoo!’s beautiful new weather app.

2. Icon Simplicity

Icons are becoming ever-more simplified with cleaner user interfaces. Because we’ve all been exposed to icons over the years across a variety of applications, simplifying them down to their most basic references still works because as long-time users, we will still know exactly what they are and what they mean.

3. Bright & Neutral Colors

In combination with a flat UI and simple icons, many gorgeous websites are using neutral backgrounds along with bright, high-contrast accent colors. Many of these sites tend to be on the more minimalistic side, but regardless, it’s a huge trend. Many of them are responsive as well. To balance out the flat look, many of these sites use a variety of animations that breath life into various elements on the page, as well as to encourage the visitor to stay and explore the site longer.

Here are some examples of websites that utilize the flat look, along with simple icons and bold colors.